Land leveler



May 15., 1962 Filed April 5, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l '1 3 L; 0 Q N '0 g; nN

Q g Q K Q R E Q I I I rl & INVENTOR. :g m Aer/me 2114475550 ON a BY A'E- Q a p2 2%G a 3g ATTORNEYS.

May 15, 1962 A. P. WATERSON LAND LEVELER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 5,1961 65 57 as 79 \i a l 30 40 35 INVENTOR.

Aer/me AMI/Yew BY A TI'OR/VE Y8 5,034,239 L LEVELER Arthur P. Waterson,241 S. 4th St., Dighton, Karts. Filed Apr. 5, 1961, $81. No. 109,949 1Claim. ($1. 37-180) This invention relates to a land leveler-and has asits primary object the provision of an improved tractor mounted scraperblade having automatically actuated means for varying the height of theblade in accordance with the contour of the ground. I

An additional object of the invention is the provision of a device ofthis character particularly adapted for fine work in leveling minor.protuberances and humps in ground to be leveled after the coarseleveling has been accomplished by other conventional means.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a front and rearfeeler element, each of the feeler elements being provided with a tracerwheel and so arranged that when the front tracer wheel strikes a high orlow area the depth of the blade will be automatically varied one-halfthe amount of the raise or fall of the tracer wheel.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a rearfeeler element carried by a tracer wheelso that the means controllingthe elevation of the blade will remain unaffected when traveling oversubstantially straight smooth ground either inclined upwardly ordownwardly.

As conducive to a clearer understanding of this invention, aconventional land plane or leveler comprises a long and very rigidlybraced frame carried by four caster wheels with wide steel rims. Midwayfrom front to back is a scraper blade mounted adjustably up and down.This adjustment may either be manual or hydraulic. If hydraulic, it iscontrolled from the tractor seat, and a stop, or indicator, visuallyshowing the operator. When the blade has been lowered to a point wherethe cutting edge on the bottom of the scrafer is in line with the lowestpoint on all wheels, if the ground is somewhat soft due to the weight onthe wheels, they may sink in enough to cause the scraper to overload andstall the tractor pulling the plane. In this case, the scraper isadjusted upward to a point where the scraper will load and unload as itgoes along. This then is ideal.- A plane of this type, if fifty to sixtyfeet long, and the longer the better, will weigh from three to fivetons, and would require a crawler tractor.

This invention obviates many of the above difiiculties by providingatractor with three point bitch and its own hydraulic pressure supply, towhich is attached a scraper blade which is adapted to connect to thethree point hitch on the tractor, the depth of the scraper blade beingautomatically controlled by feeler elements carrying front and reartracer wheels. V

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved servomechanism actuating a hydraulic piston and linkage therefor toaccomplish the elevating and lowering of the blade in accordance withirregularities in the ground contour.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device ofthischaracter which is sturdy and durable in construction, reliable andefiicient in operation, and relatively simple and inexpensive tomanufacture and utilize.

Still other objects reside in the combination of elements, arrangementsof parts, and features of construction, all as will be more fullypointed out hereinafter and disclosed in the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the device of the instantinvention shown in association with a conventional tractor or the like.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 takensubstantially on line 22 of FIG. 1.

3,034,239 Patented May is, 1962 ine FIGURE 3 is an enlargedendelevational view of a portion of the mechanism taken substantially alongthe line El-S of :FIG. 2 as viewed in the direction indicated by thearrows.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken substan-' tially along theline 4-4 of FIG. 3 as viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows.

FIGURES is an enlarged plan view, partially in section, takensubstantially along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1 as viewed in the directionindicated by the arrows.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along 12, and adifferential housing13. Extending from the rear axle 12 on oppositesides of the differential housing are a pair of lugs 14, to which arepivotally secured, asby means of pivots 15, links 16 which in turn arepivotally connected as by pivots 17 to projecting lugs 18, which areclampingly engaged about a square shaped tool bar 19. Also engaged bypivot 17 are inclined upwardly extending arms 263 which arepivotallyco'nnected at their.

converging upper ends by means of a pivot 21 to a link 22 which, at itsother end, is pivotally connected by means of a pivot 23 between a pairof lugs 24, the top of the differential housing 13. I

A self locking hydraulic cylinder 25 having an extending lug 2-6 at oneend is pivoted as by means of a pivot pin 27 to a projection 28extending from the bottom of the differential housing 13. The cylindercontains a piston 29 which has a piston rod 30 extending therefrom, therod 39' terminating in a clevis 31 which is pivotally connected as by apivot 32 to an intermediate point of link 22. Fluid under pressure issupplied to the cylinder through an upper line 33 which tends to retractthe piston in a lower line 34 which serves to extend the piston, thepiston being actuated in a manner to be more fully describedhereinafter.

Depending arcuate arms 35 are provided with end tively raise-d andlowered in accordance with the travel of the piston 29 in the cylinder25.

At each end'of the tool bar 19 there is provided a normally horizontalcontrol bar generally indicated at which is comprised of two T-shapedelements 4-6 and 47 which are clampingly held about square tool bar 19by means of bolts 48 with their stems extending in opposite directions.Secured to each of the forwardlyext'ending stems as by means of a pivot49 is a feeler element 50, the two forward arms converging at a point51, well in advance of the front end of the tractor. At the point of theconvergent feeler element 50 there is provided a sleeve 52 whichrotatably mounts a post 53 having an offset fork 54 thereon whichcarries a tracer wheel 55. Correspondingly, to each of the members 46there is pivotally mounted, as on a pivot 56, a rearwardly convergenttracer element 57, the rear members converging at a sleeve 58 The tracerWheels 55 and 61 thus serve through the V tracer elements 50 and 57 ascontrol elements for a hydraulic valve generally indicated at 65, bestseen at FIG. 3, in a manner to be morefully described hereinafter.

Fixedly secured to the inner end of one of members 50 is an upright 66,which at its upper extremity is pro-. vided with a collar67 whichsurrounds a ball member 68 (FIG. 4) mounted on a valve stem 69. A collar70 is secured on the stem 69 by means of a set screw 71 and biases oneend of a coil spring 72 against the ball member68. V a a I a The end ofstem 69 is threaded asat 73, and has an adjusting nut 74 provided withan operating hmdle 75 positioned thereon, whereby the tension exerted bythe spring 72 against the ball member 68 willbias the valve stem 69toward a valve spool 78 to overcome the compression of a spring 79. Thiscauses blade 40 to raise to a point that centers a valve spool 78 invalve body 65.

A lock nut 76 with an operating handle 77 is provided exteriorly ofadjustingnut 74. The arrangement is thus such that as the forward tracerwheel 55 moves upwardly or downwardly the valve stem 69 is movedforwardly or backwardly. 'Interiorly of the valve assembly 65 the valvespool 78is' spring biased at one end as by means of the spring 79. Whenin central or neutral position the valve permits the flow of fluid aboutthree valve members 80, 81, and 82, fluid under pressure beingsuppliedto-the interior of the valve through a passage 83 and returning througha line 84 to a suitable tank for hydrauliclfluid carried by the tractoror other vehicle, there being thus no pressure then on: piston 29. Whenthe stem 69 is moved tothe leftas viewed in FIG. 4, for example, fluidis forced through'an outlet 86 through the line 34 in a direction tomove piston 29 to raise the blade 49. Sirn-;

ilarly, when the valve body 65 is moved to the left as seen in FIG. 4,fluid flows through the outlet 87 into the line 33 to move the piston inthe opposite direction and lower the blade.

The rear feeler element 57 is also provided at one end with an upright90, which is fixedly secured to the valve housing 65, and when the reartracer wheel 61 is raised or lowered the valve stem 69 remainsstationary but the valve housing ismoved relative thereto to effect acone sponding opening and closing of outlets 86 and 87, and acorresponding movement of the piston 29 to raise or lower the, blade.The arrangement is thus such that when the tracer'wheel strikes a bumpof earth, as indicated at 1%, for example, in FIG. 1, the tracerelements are tilted to lower the blade 40 to smooth out the hump, asimilar hump being indicated in dotted lines at 161 to the rear of thescraper blade.

From the foregoing it will now be seen that there is herein provided animproved land leveler which accomplishes all the objects of thisinvention, and others, including many advantages of great practicalutility and commercial importance.

As many embodiments may be made of this inventive concept, and as manymodifications may be made in the embodiment hereinbefore shown anddescribed, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to beinterpreted merely as illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.

I claim: A land leveler comprising in combination a prime mover, ascraper blade, a tool bar fixed to said blade, hydraulic means formoving said tool bar to raise and lower said blade, a forwardlyextendingfeeler element, a caster tracer wheel carried by saidfeelerelement, a rearwardly extending feeler element, a second caster tracerwheel carried by said rearwardly extending feeler element, a normallyhorizontal controlbar fixed to each end of said tool bar, meanspivotally mounting said forwardly extending feeler element to theforward ends of said control bars for vertical movement, means pivotallymounting said rearwardly extending feeler' element to the rear of saidcontroll-bars for vertical movement, valve means actuated by the tiltingof said feeler elements, controlling said bydraulic means to raise andlower said blade in accordance with the contour of the terrain overwhich said tracer wheels pass, said'valve means including a valvehousing cormected to one end of said rearwardly extending feelerelement, and a valve stem connected to said forwardly ex tending feelerelement, a valve connected to said stem in said housing, whereby tiltingof either of said feeler elements moves said valve and housing relativeto each other, and hydraulic fluid passages connected to said hydraulicmeans for controlling said hydraulic means in accordance with therelative position of said valve and housing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,411,277 Laird et a! Nov! 19, 1946 2,672,702 Goddard Mar. 23, 1954,2,732,640 Kirchner Jan. 31, 1956 2,792,651 Hobday May 21, 1957

